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What salt to use?

Is there a holy grail for salt? Can you mix different salt brands to achieve higher micros?

I have a small tank and it would be awesome to get everything I need from my salt mix on water changes.


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Marc said:
Is there a holy grail for salt? Can you mix different salt brands to achieve higher micros?

I have a small tank and it would be awesome to get everything I need from my salt mix on water changes.


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I don't think it's a good idea to mix salt unless you are switching brands. Remember, stability is key and that includes using the same salt.
 
grizfyrfyter said:
I don't think it's a good idea to mix salt unless you are switching brands. Remember, stability is key and that includes using the same salt.
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When I talked with Dustin and Jeff at Fluid Dynamics a few years ago, they actually recomended mixing salts to keep things more stable. Here's what their website says:

"We [] mix our saltwater 300gal at a time using half D-D Aquatics H2Ocean Magnesium Pro Plus Salt Mix and half NeoMarine Precision Salt Blend. We find that together these salts mix closest to our ideal nutrient levels. Additionally, through this combination we avoid the pitfalls of manufacturing irregularities experienced in specific batches of marine salts."

I've been mixing H2Oceans Magnesium Pro and Oceanic Salt pretty much since I started my tank and I think it does help keep things stable. Although, I also occassionally run out of H2Oceans and use straight Oceanic salt with no apparent reactions...
 
The current Aquatic Collection (near Chabot) price on Salinity is hard to beat unless you can get it wholesale. I've been using it for almost three years and admit that I won't change unless something drastic happens.
 
Call me reckless but recently I realized I had too many almost empty bags/containers of salt so I figured hey I'm feeling adventurous and I dumped them all into one bucket then grabbed the bucket & started swinging it back & forth over my head, then I spun it about 16 times and have been using it for about 3 months now without ill effects.

No specific recipe but I recon there's some reef crystals, coralife & kent reef salt (I think) all mixed together. My measurements show everything exactly where it should be 8.2 ph, alk 9-11, mag 1350 & calcium is through the roof at 500-550 but my tank seems to not mind the extra calcium, perhaps that's why my SPS are doing better than the softies...
 
HiFidelity said:
Call me reckless but recently I realized I had too many almost empty bags/containers of salt so I figured hey I'm feeling adventurous and I dumped them all into one bucket then grabbed the bucket & started swinging it back & forth over my head, then I spun it about 16 times and have been using it for about 3 months now without ill effects.

No specific recipe but I recon there's some reef crystals, coralife & kent reef salt (I think) all mixed together. My measurements show everything exactly where it should be 8.2 ph, alk 9-11, mag 1350 & calcium is through the roof at 500-550 but my tank seems to not mind the extra calcium, perhaps that's why my SPS are doing better than the softies...
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That sounds like it could be a great workout!
 
I use seachem reef salt. It mixes a bit low on alk but I buffer that out. I use it since its only $36 for a 5 gallon bucket.

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I had the same experience, it's what made me dislike seachem. I like maintaining a very stable alk reading and I struggled to do so with seachem even though I'm dosing kalk.

The bucket swinging was in fact very tiring, I would add a few scoops then pick up the bucket & start swinging, another few scoops & repeat, by the time I was done my arms were dead.
 
sfsuphysics said:
I used to use SeaChem reef salt back in the day too. How do you buffer it up? Just add Arm & Hammer to it?
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I mix small batches, less than 5 gallons at a time. I buffer it with my B-Ionic.

It mixes at like 7 so buffering to 9 takes like 4 or 5 ml to get it up before a water change.

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tr1gger said:
I use seachem reef salt. It mixes a bit low on alk but I buffer that out. I use it since its only $36 for a 5 gallon bucket.

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Do you actually get 150 gal at 1.026 tho? I used to get less for sure. One of the reasons I switched to salinity. You actually get 225 gal at 1.026. Only like 4-5 cents a gal difference for what I consider to be higher quality as it mixes more quickly for me and the values are spot on. Also, I have to buy less buckets!
 
More recently, I like Tropic Marin Pro and Microbe Lift salts. I used Salinity before and I didn't like the salt because it didn't mix cleanly and my tank didn't seem to respond well to it. For now, I'm going to stick with Micro Lift as I can get that locally and I like the results that I've been seeing
 
I bet you don't get the full 150 out of it, so in a way they fool you w the price. But it sounds like that doesn't matter much since you don't go thru it
 
I propose we start a FTS thread where you post the pic & your choice of salt, the salt used on the most grown out & beautiful reef count wins :D

I remember a while back seeing a lengthy thread on RC or somewhere that did include pics and from a personal tally resulted in plain old IO being the winner (I've yet to try it)
 
If magnesium is an issue try Kent salt mix. Their salt crystal mix has added Ca. And mag. I was using Instant Ocean, but it was lower in Ca. And probably mag. But then again you can always supplement it. Kent is also inexpensive, at least if purchased from Foster and Smith. Free shipping.
 
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